Monday, July 20, 2015

Today I bring you another space in my large 1920's restoration project. Most of these spaces have been complete for well over a year. Now that I'm staying at home with my babes, I'm finally finding the time to blog about them.

This space was designed for a sweet little boy. He is very creative and always building something, so I thought that a large play area in the center of the room would be perfect. Now, every time I go back to this project, there is usually some sort of elaborate castle or building going on right there in the middle of the rug. In fact, I had to move one of these set ups, piece by piece to the hallway, trying desperately to keep it in tact, so that I could take these photos. It was pretty comical. I'm certain that this was ideal space planning for this child and a room for hours of creative play!
So here is the before of this room from when my client's purchased the home. It was seriously stuck in the 70's and not in a good way. However, the room did had one redeeming quality and that was it's grasscloth walls that were in perfect condition. As you know, grasscloth is back and beautiful again, so I had the walls covered and protected during the course of the restoration so that we could keep the grasscloth walls. That is pretty much all that remains of the original space.

And here is the space now...

Crisp and clean and all boy. Even though he is young now, we selected pieces of furniture that didn't feel too young and that he would be able to grow well with.

There is a little alcove in the space that leads to his private bath and to one of two closets in the space.

Here is the alcove before...

And here is the alcove now...
We changed out the previous light fixture with a small, galvanized caged marine light. You can see it better in the photo above. We also added wood flooring throughout.

I tried to keep and restore as many of the home's original details as possible, like these glass knobs that I love so much!

And here is the space now...
Don't you just love that galvanized barn light with the bright red bulb cage. It's such a fun detail!
Red Tolix chair goodness!

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My client's and I are so pleased with how cute this little boy's space turned out.
If you're new around here and want to see more spaces in this amazing home just type "1920s renovation" into the search bar and all of the spaces I've previously blogged about should pop up :-)

I'm currently wrapping up some details on my own sweet little boys room. The length of time that it has taken me to pull his room together is a little bit absurd considering he is now 10 months old! It really holds true to the whole 'second child thing'. I've just been so much more laid back with this kiddo and I knew I would get to it...eventually ;-) Well, it is almost finished, so I'll be blogging about his room soon.

Friday, July 17, 2015

This is the last part of our East Coast vacation from last summer. We started in Boston and then Plymouth and then on to Nantucket. I have always wanted to see Nantucket. I've heard how incredibly charming it is over and over. I've also had a love affair with East Coast architecture since I started in design in the early 2000's. So I just had to see it and experience it myself. I will definitely go back!!!
We took the high speed ferry from Hyannis Port and we arrived in Nantucket in the evening. We headed straight to our B&B to drop off our stuff and then headed out to the Brotherhood of Thieves and had a cozy and delicious dinner. This place is so cool!

There's little baby James all snug in my belly :-)

I like food pictures. I like to see what people eat...so here you go, I ate this amazing soup.

The next day we got up and walked around Nantucket. To say that I was smitten would be an understatement. If you've never been and you'd like to feel like you just walked into a perfect little world designed, styled and directed by Ralph Lauren, then I recommend you check out Nantucket.

The Harbor early in the morning.

The cobblestone streets are incredible. It's like walking back in time!

See what I mean...designed, styled and directed by Ralph Lauren...true story.

We walked around and shopped all day.

Cute boutique after cute boutique.

I looooved this one, The Lion's Paw, they had fabulous homegoods!

There are flowers growing in every nook and crannie on this island!

I must have taken a hundred photos of light fixtures alone. I'll spare you.

I can safely say that this was the most incredible lobster roll I've ever had in my life, and I've had many!

We also drove around some of the residential parts and ogled the homes. Frank was so sweet and stopped for me every 30 feet when I would shout "Oh my gosh, stop!" "wait, go back" "good Lord, look at that". I mean, it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Frank ordered the "tentacle" :-/ I'm an adventurous eater but not that adventurous!

This was the precious B&B we stayed at. It is the Union Street Inn and I can't say enough nice things about this charming B&B. They were so very accommodating, warm, friendly...you name it!

The location was just down the street from the main street and harbor, which made it super easy to walk around...or ride a bike if you're not super preggo. We rented a jeep and it was perfect.

Our B&B's owner is an interior designer, so naturally the place was beautifully decorated and was oozing with designer details, which is important to me. I love the full experience when I go somewhere. I love to see the thought put into the aesthetics.

I chose this room for obvious reasons but I loved that it had this little sitting room attached where we would have tea in the afternoon. Look at that blue grasscloth!!

This was just another cute room that we passed going to our room, so I snapped a pic. They were beautifully decorated!

Speaking of tea, this little spread would be laid out in the afternoon. We would come back to the B&B to take a break from our wandering around and have these lovely refreshments laid out for us. I just loved this place! And they were the sweetest people!

My afternoon tea, a carrot cake bite and my baby bump. It's fun to look back at these pics because I had no idea what was in store for me. Now I know my sweet boy and looking back at that bump means worlds more!...tear, sniff sniff.

I'll be back with Part II when I can get all of the photos uploaded. I took a gazillion because there is literally nothing that isn't charming on this island! If you haven't been, you gotta go!!!

M. E. Beck Design, Inc.

Maria E. Beck, RID, ASID | Principal Designer

Welcome to Live Beautifully. I'm a licensed interior designer and principal of M. E. Beck Design, Inc. Follow along as I post about my interior design business, current design projects, my family, my travels and things that inspire me. My hope is that you might be inspired as well. Thanks for visiting!